Our Son
by 19Dianne94
Summary: They finally did it. Nathan and Audrey admitted their feelings, and let their feelings take over. But a letter delivered to Audrey/Lexi that day changes their whole dynamic as a couple. Will this bring them closer together? Yeah summaries aren't my thing... but it's worth the read. promise.
1. The Letter

My Pen name used to be SVUObsessedEandO, but I decided to change it, mostly because I'm starting to write more than Law and Order SVU. So I decided to go with the name I use on nearly everything else online: 19Dianne94. Hopefully you guys that do read my stuff will understand, and I won't totally loose y'all. In the meantime…. I kinda decided to write this. ENJOY!

My first shot at a Haven fanfic. Set somewhere between Lay Me Down, and right before William returns… In which, he will not make an appearance in this.

Audrey Parker sat at her desk looking at the paper in front of her that Stan had given her. It had to be a joke. He was dead. The pen in her hand fell to the desk, and she saw her partner, the love of her life, look up from his desk.

"Parker?" Nathan said, always short with his words. Audrey just stared at the paper. She heard him, could see him from the corner of her eye. She could see the concern written all over his face and his body language. But she just couldn't move. "Audrey." He got up now, worked his way over to her. But still, her eyes never left the paper. Someone from the guard was testing her. Seeing if she remembered who she was. If they were watching, they knew. Lexi would never react like she was now. But she didn't care. If this wasn't a joke she had a chance. They had a chance.

Nathan perched on the edge of her desk, gently touching her hand. The touch, that's what caused her to look at him. Tears in her eyes, she met the concern in his, his hand coming up to caress where a stray tear fell.

"Nathan. He… He's…" That's all she could say. Rationally, the words wouldn't form. So instead she looked back down to the paper, incentive enough for Nathan's gaze to follow hers, finally understand what has caused her to become so emotional.

_"Mom, I'd really like to talk. To really truly understand what's going on. I know this will be a shock to you, so please, don't be angry. I had to disappear, to heal not only physically, but mentally. Not only did I lose my wife, I lost her after such a betrayal from killing those people, and then stabbing me, well trying to stab you. I know I knew you for a brief moment as Lucy, but still, you have the same presence as her, and I know you and I will get along. I'll be at the Gull. And bring Dad."_

_ -James_

Nathan looked at Audrey, the look of shock reflected in her eyes. "Our son is alive."


	2. The Grey Gull

They both sat there, looking at the paper. Not totally sure what to do with it.

"Do you think it's real, or is it The Guard?" Audrey asked, her eyes still full of unshed tears.

"I'm not totally sure. But there's this gut feeling that it is James." Nathan said, his mind already made up.

"We're going. I don't care if it is the Guard or not. I cannot lose another chance. Granted, I have to go home there anyway. I'm guessing he did that on purpose." Audrey said, her body already moving ahead of her mind. As she spoke, she shut her computer down, straightening the paperwork on her desk and turning off the lamp. Nathan took the hint and decided to do the same. That paperwork would still be there later.

They both walked out of the office, the letter clasped tightly in Audrey's hand as they made their way to Nathan's truck. The ride itself was silent, both of them too lost in thought and hope to even begin to try to start a conversation. All too quickly, that blue truck turned into the parking lot of The Gull and he parked, yet neither of them made a move to get out.

"Nathan.."

"Yeah, Parker. I know. But we have to see. At least if it's not him, we can figure out who would play this kind of sick joke." Nathan said, reaching his hand across the seat to grip hers. Their eyes met as she squeezed his hand and made a move to the door.

The Grey Gull was quiet for a Friday, even if it was the middle of the day. There were a few people, regulars, and maybe two people that Audrey didn't know. But she could care less about them. Her eyes barely looked at them before moving on to the next face.

"He's not here." Audrey said after scanning the crowd three times. "He's still dead, and we need to find the sick son of a bitch that wrote this note." The venom in her voice was enough to make Nathan grab her hand again. Audrey has many sides, but he's learned when she's out for blood, he's safest totally on her side.

"Well if it isn't the happy couple. Please tell me you're off the clock because I'm pretty sure holding hands on the job isn't in the rulebook." Duke said, coming up to stand in front of Audrey. And after so long knowing her, never once has she even acted like would ever do what she did next. Audrey Parker punched Duke.

Nathan's hands immediately grabbed Audrey's arms and pulled her back to face him, putting him between her, and his best friend. Surprisingly enough though, the fight seemed to be totally drained out of her. She looked into his eyes, and he could see the defeat in them. The same defeat he saw when she held James in her arms in the barn.

"Audrey, Duke had nothing to do with this. There was no reason to hit him." Nathan turned around and lended a hand to Duke who still sat where he fell, staring at Audrey in disbelief. "Right Duke?" Finally Duke seemed to snap out of it and looked at Nathan, then promptly looked away. "…Duke?"

"Actually I did have something to do with this, but not in the way you think. I saw James. He was sitting in that corner all by himself, and for some reason, I was compelled to go over to him. After talking for a little while, I decided to get him to move somewhere more private, where you guys could talk without all the barflies listening in. I said I'd tell you guys when you got here, but I needed to run an errand to my other boat on the dock outside." Duke kept his eye on Audrey the whole time. After the first unexpected punch, he wanted to be totally prepared if she was going to try it again. Instead her eyes held a new light to them.

"He's alive. Damn it Duke where is he?" Audrey stepped closer to him, her body ready to hit him again if needed.

Sensing the tension and seriousness, Duke went with the safest option, a straightforward, one word answer. "Upstairs."

Audrey didn't waste another second. She turned to the stairs, Nathan barely a step behind her as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. Each step making her heart rate faster. Each one bringing her closer to her son. Their son.


	3. James

Finally done with waiting, Audrey burst through the doors to her loft her eyes quickly scanning the room to finally land on her son sitting behind the piano. Actually seeing him there, alive, Audrey released a breath she didn't even notice that she was holding.

"James." She breathed, fully aware of Nathan's hands coming up to rest on the top of her shoulder touching the exposed portion of her neck, needing to have something to ground him to reality.

"Hi Audrey… Mom." James said, smiling and looking up at Nathan. "Dad."

"How?" It seemed as if single syllable words were all Audrey could manage for now. She walked over to him, sitting on the open space of the piano bench.

"That's going to require a long conversation. I need to know where you want me to start. How is such a broad question." James brought his hand over to wipe a tear that fell down Audrey's face.

His touch seemed to pull Audrey out of her frozen state. She reached over and pulled him into a hug. "We thought you were dead! When the barn was destroyed, and only Duke and I came out… I feared the worse."

"What about you Dad? Had you given up hope?" James looked at where Nathan hadn't moved from the doorway.

"Yes. I had. I had accepted that I lost the love of my life, the son I just learned about, and my best friend all in the same day. I was an emotional wreck for 6 months." Nathan had moved from the doorway to the couch connecting eyes with both James and Audrey.

Audrey stood from her place, pulling James with her and went to sit next to Nathan, putting James on the other end from them. "Tell us what happened after I left you."

James sighed and leaned back, his eyes roaming the room as he began.

"I remember being in your arms, seeing the tears in your eyes and feeling safe. I felt as though you'd protect me against the world, no matter how silly that sounds. Anyway, I knew the Barn was working for me. I woke up alone in a bed surrounded by those stupid white walls. There was a man standing outside yelling for you. And when I came out of the room all I saw was him standing there, his back to me. There was a projection of your memories on the wall in front of him. Then suddenly, the floor disappeared from under him. I ran forward only to have the same happen to me. I woke up in the woods somewhere in south Mississippi, nearly 10 months later, a dog licking my face. I followed the sounds of laughter to a group of hunters who took me to town. From there I made my way up here hitch hiking." James looked at Audrey and Nathan, who kept silent, the look of love in both of their eyes comforted him.

"What happened with you Mom?"

Audrey felt her heart race every time he called her that. This maternal instinct making its way to the front of her mind.

"I was in the Barn, totally unaware that it was falling apart around me. As far as I knew, I was bartending in a Southern bar as Lexi Dewitt. This man came in one day and ended up reminding me who I really was. Oddly enough, we managed to find the door that connected the barn/bar and Haven. I ended up going through it with the mindset of being Audrey Parker. I woke up in a field surrounded by The Guard and my friends. Nathan was the first face I saw, and right after that, he had a gun in my hand demanding I shoot him. It took me a brief moment to make the decision of acting as Lexi until I could figure out a different way to end the Troubles without killing the love of my life. My façade won't last much longer, but still, we're searching for a way to end the Troubles, but for now the world of Haven, Maine is calm." Audrey looked at Nathan, seeing if he wanted to add anything.

"I just spent 6 months getting paid to let people hit me." Nathan shrugged, an arm going around Audrey.

"So you're a bartender, and you're a punching bag." James said, adding a light mood to the atmosphere around them.

Audrey and Nathan looked at each other and smiled. "Basically." They said at the same time. Laughter circled the room as they began to talk and bond as a family.

"Now that I'm here, we can all search for a way to end the Troubles. But because my permanent residence is no longer the Barn, I've first got to find a place to stay and a job." James said, totally relaxed against the couch, not bothered by seeing his parents wrapped up together, Audrey having her back to Nathan's chest her legs stretched out across the couch, his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"I may be able to help you there." Nathan said. "We have a position available at the office, if you're willing to be a rookie cop. Help us with the Trouble cases." Nathan left the question in the air, watching James think it over.

"We'd be a family of cops do you realize that." James said, a smile on his face.

"I take that as a yes?"

"Yes, I'll work for you, but I'll have to stay at the station. I have no place to stay." James said, almost sadly.

"That's where I can help." Audrey said, standing up and going over to her key ring hanging at the door. She pulled down one of the key rings hanging there and fiddled with it for a few seconds before hanging it back up. "90% of my things are with Nathan. I was in the process of moving in with him. The loft is yours. I am never here but maybe one night a week like I was going to be tonight. It's normally nights like tonight on a Friday when I plan on drinking downstairs and know I can't drive to Nathan's." Audrey said, walking over to James and handing him the key to the loft and situating herself back in Nathan's embrace.

"Just remember, I still have a key, this is still my place, I will drop in at any time."

"Yes Mom. Thank you both. I don't know what I would've done. The Barn has been my home for so many years now. The world has changed since then." James said, taking in the room around him, feeling easily at home in the cozy loft.

"Yes, the world is strict here as well though. I expect you to be at work at 8 in the morning son. No excuses." Nathan said, a smile on his face, but his voice saying that he wasn't kidding.

"Yeah Dad. But first thing's first. I need to go talk to whoever this Vince and Dave are. Duke mentioned them and said they were the information source of this town. I want to know as much as I can." James said, determination on his face.

"Tomorrow. Tonight, we celebrate. There will be time for that later. We'll show you around town, and show you the Haven Herald so you'll be able to go whenever you want to." Audrey said.

The newly formed family sat on the couch sharing stories, none of them aware of the person that has been listening in from outside the still open doors for the past few hours.


End file.
